The present invention relates to a modular lighting fixture with improved device for connecting the arms to the respective support.
More in particular, the present invention relates to a modular lighting fixture wherein one or more arms carrying the lighting body or bodies are inserted in the respective support for obtaining both the mechanical connection and the electrical connection by an improved device. The latter is obtained at al end of each arm and fits into a support and containment seat formed on a central body. The term “lighting fixture” used in the present description preferably refers to a ceiling chandelier with arms branching off a central support, made of glass, crystal or other suitable material but the same term may refer to a wall lamp of appliqué with one or more arms, or other types of lamps, for example floor or table lamps.
As known, several types of fixtures used for interior lighting exist. A traditional and widespread embodiment of these fixtures consists of the so-called chandelier with arms, which is installed on the ceiling and is provided with at least one central support wherefrom the same arms branch off with radial pattern. The latter, similar to the relative support, may be made of the most varied materials, from crystal to wood, to ceramic, metal and so on; in any case, they are chandeliers suitable for artistic and especially precious embodiments, if made with crystals and handicraft processes wherein the manual activity leads to obtaining real artistic creations. Both in this case and in the case of chandeliers with glass arms or other less precious materials, besides processing the single components, subsequent works are required for assembling and setting up electrical connections between arms and central body. The finished chandelier, that is, assembled in it components, exhibits the further problem of handling, for the transport and installation thereof at the end user. Especially in the case of large sized chandeliers, with multiple and greatly projecting arms, the transportation is difficult and the arms are thus removed from the relative support, in order to substantially limit the overall dimensions for transportation. In this case it is then required to assemble the various elements again and restore the mechanical and electrical connections; both the preventive removal and the assembly after transportation require long times, therefore considerable costs, and moreover it requires the intervention of experts.
Solutions are known wherein the chandeliers with arms of the above type at an end comprise quick connection means to a central support for obtaining at the same time, both the mechanical fixing of the arms and the contacts for the electrical power.
A solution of this type is for example described in EP1030995. However, this solution exhibits some considerable drawbacks. In a chandelier made according to the teaching of the above patent, in fact, connecting the arms to the respective seat of the central support requires works for welding the electrical cables and setting up an enclosure, or manifold, which encloses the two half-shells constituting the male fitting to be inserted in one of the seats of the central support. Besides constituting a complex and therefore expensive assembly, this solution exhibits significant overall dimensions, since the total diameter of the male fitting is considerably increased by the presence of the manifold that encloses the half-shells. As a consequence, also the central support exhibits a large diameter as it has to receive multiple seats for said fittings for which, among the other things, the electrical safety standards impose precise safety distances. With these limits, the supports of the chandeliers made according to the solution of said patent easily reach and exceed the diameter of 200 millimetres, so that the chandelier provided with dimensionally proportioned arms globally is cumbersome and therefore, not suitable for all the environments. In substance, the known solution mentioned above that provided for the quick connection of the arms to the central support does not meet the requirement of making chandeliers of limited size for not very large environments.
Due to the overall dimensions of the fixture, there occur problems both in the packaging step and in the transportation and storage of the relative enclosures wherein the same fixture is arranged; in situations of this type, breakage of the arms may easily occur, even if only partial.
Said known solution, moreover, exhibits the drawback relating to the bending of the arms which, especially if made of plastic material, with the passing of time tend to weaken, changing their initial position with the risk of cracks and breakage.
A further drawback found in the above solution relates to the centering and phasing of the arms, which is determined by a shape coupling between one end of the same and the shape of the relative seat. In this known embodiment, in fact, there is not the certainty that the arms can fully insert into the respective seat, for example due to foreign bodies, moulding burrs of the components and the like, so failures may occur due to imprecise electrical contacts.